Where the West Lives: ASU Opens Elmer Kelton Exhibit for His 100th Birthday

SAN ANGELO, TX -- Angelo State University's Ralph R. Chase West Texas Collection is presenting a new exhibit highlighting one of the nation's most popular Western writers, Elmer Kelton, starting Wednesday, Sept. 9, in the ASU Mayer Museum at 2501 W. Ave. N.

Titled "Where the West Lives: The Stories of Elmer Kelton," the exhibit will be open for free public viewing from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, weekly through Jan. 9, 2027.

Presented in honor of Kelton's 100th birthday, the exhibit includes artworks, books, and multiple other items that explore his focus on themes from the American West. From cowboys and soldiers to ranchers and indigenous peoples, Kelton's characters and settings have the power to transport readers to a bygone era.

A West Texas native, Kelton passed away in 2009. The author of more than 40 books, he was a seven-time winner of the Western Writers of America's Spur Award and was the first Distinguished Visiting Professor at ASU. The annual ASU Writers Conference in Honor of Elmer Kelton is named in his honor and brings prominent national and state novelists, authors, and poets to campus every spring to read to, meet, and interact with the ASU community and the public.